Announcement of the Winners of
The “2009 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award”

December 22, 2008

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (MCI) hereby announces the winners of the “2009 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award.” This award was established in 2004 with the aim of contributing to the sustainable development of chemistry and chemical industry, having been established to recognize researchers who have made outstanding achievements in catalysis science. The first winners were honored in March, 2005.

The Winners of the “2009 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award”

Professor John F. Hartwig University of Illinois Born in 1964 “Development of New Practical Catalytic Reactions Including Efficient C-H Bond Activation and Coupling Reactions”	Professor Kyoko Nozaki The University of Tokyo Born in 1964 “Development of Novel Catalytic Reactions for Coordination Copolymerization of Polar Monomers”
Professor Hartwig made pioneering contributions to catalytic carbon-hydrogen bond activation, one of the unsolved challenges in catalytic science, and realized new types of transformations including highly efficient coupling reactions, especially with deep understanding of reaction mechanisms.	Professor Nozaki realized innovative catalytic reactions for coordination copolymerization of olefins with polar monomers, which is an important topic of catalyst science, through accumulated basic studies of reactions mechanisms.

The Winners of the “2009 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award of Encouragement”

Lecturer Shigeki Matsunaga The University of Tokyo Born in 1975 “Development of Multimetallic Asymmetric Catalysis through Chiral Ligand Design”	Assistant Professor Yoshiaki Nakao Kyoto University Born in 1976 “Development of Cooperative Metal Catalysis for C-C Bond Forming Addition Reactions”
Dr. Matsunaga demonstrated the validity of the idea that catalytic reactions can be controlled by multimetallic catalysts, leading to useful organic compounds.	Dr. Nakao realized new carbon-carbon bond forming addition reactions through the cooperative action of nickel catalysts with Lewis acid catalysts.

Although the “Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award” is supposed to be presented to only one researcher with the best achievements, the Award Selection Committee selected two winners after much deliberation as there were a lot of strong candidates this year.

The award ceremony and commemorative lectures by the winners will be held during “The Forth Mitsui Chemical International Symposium on Catalysis Science (MICS2009)” on March 11 and 12, at Kazusa Akademia Hall in Kisarazu City, Chiba Prefecture in Japan.

Please refer to “Mitsui Chemicals to Host “The Forth Mitsui Chemicals International Symposium on Catalysis Science (MICS2009)”” separately released on the same day for details of MICS2009.

Summary of the “2009 Mitsui Chemical Catalysis Science Award and the “2009 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award of Encouragement”

1.The “2009 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award”

Research Field: polymerization catalysts, fine synthesis catalysts and other catalysts contributing to environmental protection
Eligible: Researchers (aged 45 years or younger at the date of April 1, 2008) who belong to institutions of higher learning or public research institutes with the best achievements
Prize: a commemorative plaque and cash prize of ¥5 million

2. The “2009 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award of Encouragement”

Research Field: the same as the “2009 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award”
Eligible: Researchers (aged 35 years or younger at the date of April 1, 2008) who belong to institutions of higher learning or public research institutes with the most original achievements
Prize: a commemorative plaque and cash prize of ¥1 million

Reference

<The Winners in 2005>

The Winners of the “2005 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award”

Professor Eric N. Jacobsen Harvard University	Professor Shu Kobayashi The University of Tokyo
“General Asymmetric Catalysts for Oxidation, Hydrolysis and C-C Bond-forming Reactions”	“Development of Novel Catalysts Directed toward Environmentally Benign Organic Synthesis”

The Winners of the “2005 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award of Encouragement”

Associate Professor Ryoichi Kuwano Kyushu University	Assistant Professor Kenichiro Itami Kyoto University
“Development of New Asymmetric Catalysis and Transition Metal-Catalyzed Reactions”	“Removable Directing Group Strategy in Metal Catalysis”

<The Winners in 2007>

The Winners of the “2007 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award”

Chief Scientist Zhaomin Hou RIKEN	Professor Gregory C. Fu Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“Development of Polymerization Reactions Based on New Organo Rare Earth Metal Catalysts”	“Coupling Reactions and Asymmetric Synthesis Based on Novel Catalyst Designs”

The Winners of the “2007 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award of Encouragement”

Assistant Professor Jun Terao Osaka University	Assistant Professor Michael C.W. Chan City University of Hong Kong
“Carbon Bond Formation Reactions Using Anionic Transition Metal Complexes as the Key Catalytic Intermediates”	“Importance of Weak Attractive Polymer-Ligand Interactions in Olefin Polymerization Catalysis”

Affiliations and titles are of those at the time of award.

Winners’ Photos of the “2009 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award” and the “2009 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award of Encouragement”

The Winners of the “2009 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award”

Professor John F. Hartwig University of Illinois Born in 1964	Professor Kyoko Nozaki The University of Tokyo Born in 1964

The Winners of the “2009 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award of Encouragement”

Lecturer Shigeki Matsunaga The University of Tokyo Born in 1975	Assistant Professor Yoshiaki Nakao Kyoto University Born in 1976

Attachment

Announcement of the Winners of The “2009 Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award”(PDF:109KB)